Learning to read is a complex cognitive process that progresses throughout childhood. To develop good reading and writing skills, an individual requires both orthographic knowledge and phonological awareness (Waldie et al., 2013). Orthographic knowledge is the ability to use information stored in memory to represent spoken language in written form. On the other hand, phonological awareness refers to the ability to detect and understand sound structure and phonemes (the smallest units of distinct sound in a specific language). Reading models such as parallel distributed processing (PDP) models suggest that both orthographic and phonological systems work together to activate lexical semantics ( Waldie et al., 2013 ). Some children have great difficulty learning to read, and if this problem persists, an assessment may be carried out to identify whether or not they have a learning disability, such as dyslexia. In this essay a brief definition of dyslexia will be given followed by a brief introduction of early research pointing towards a biological basis for dyslexia. Specific neural pathways and brain regions will then be identified and the findings will be discussed in relation to specific topographical areas of the brain studied in dyslexics. There are many different definitions of dyslexia, but most studies characterize dyslexia as a neurobiological disorder that causes reading impairment despite intellectual difficulties. aptitude, sociocultural opportunities, and motivation to read with accuracy and fluency (Lyon et al., 2003). It may also be characterized by difficulties with spelling, working memory, and decoding ability. Furthermore, dyslexia can be classified into two main types: developmental or acquired, although there are num...... half of article ......f Neurology, 7(1), pp. 35 - 46.Rumsey , J. M., Donohue, B. C., Brady, D. R., Nace, K., Giedd, J. N. & Andreason, P. (1997). A magnetic resonance imaging study of temporal plane asymmetry in men with developmental dyslexia. Archives of Neurology, 54(12), pp. 1481 - 1489.Schneider, P., Scherg, M., Dosch, H. G., Specht, H. J., Gutschalk, A. & Rupp, A. (2002). The morphology of Heschl's gyrus reflects increased activation in the auditory cortex of musicians. Nature Neuroscience, 5(7), pp. 668 - 694. Waldie, K. E., Haigh, C. E., Badzakova-Trajkov, G., Buckley, J. & Kirk, I. J. (2013). Reading the wrong way with the right hemisphere. Brain Sciences, 3(1), pp. 1060 - 1075.Wernicke, C. (1874). Der aphasische Symptomenconplex: Eine psychologische Studies auf Anatomischer Basis (The aphasia symptom complex: an anatomically based psychological study). Wroclaw: Cohn and Weigert.